PARENTS how do you do it?

[SULLY COULDNT SHOOT]

Yesterday was my daughter's 2nd birthday. We were determined as it was the first she could take part in, to make it something special. WQe hired soemone to do a stint 30 minuytes as a clown with face painting and balloon animals and 30 minutes as Po (my daughter's favourite tellytubby) and I made a pinata and organised pin the donkey (with stickers, not a pin) and pass the parcel.

We started preparing at seven am yesterday morning and finally fell into bed at 01.30 this morning. Add to that my daughter was horrified by the size of Po and hid in her bedroom until he left, two children were sickand we never had time for the fantastic pass the parcel.

Everyone loved it and said it was a great party and apart from the Po incident my daughter was over the moon and woke up first thing this morning and went straight to her new toy kitchen.

For us....... NEVER AGAIN!!!! It nearly killed us. Anyone who manages to do this every year must be on drugs!

 

[steward 433]

Yesterday was my daughter's 2nd birthday. We were determined as it was the first she could take part in, to make it something special. WQe hired soemone to do a stint 30 minuytes as a clown with face painting and balloon animals and 30 minutes as Po (my daughter's favourite tellytubby) and I made a pinata and organised pin the donkey (with stickers, not a pin) and pass the parcel.

We started preparing at seven am yesterday morning and finally fell into bed at 01.30 this morning. Add to that my daughter was horrified by the size of Po and hid in her bedroom until he left, two children were sickand we never had time for the fantastic pass the parcel.

Everyone loved it and said it was a great party and apart from the Po incident my daughter was over the moon and woke up first thing this morning and went straight to her new toy kitchen.

For us....... NEVER AGAIN!!!! It nearly killed us. Anyone who manages to do this every year must be on drugs!

Lots and lots of military precision planning and then loads of alcahol to numb the day away before and after.

 

[Marshy]

Yep...we all make the same mistake, after that its so much easier to take them to a leisure centre and do a tramp and bounce party or something similar for £5 a head, money well spent i think you will find !
The kids love it and its all over in a couple of hours...sweet

 

[DIFFBROOK]

We felt the same on my daughters 1st b/day last Dec. If I ever needed reminding, you have convinced me to take my daughter to crazy tykes on her 2nd

 

[footychick]

It is a nightmare isn't it. When my daughter had her 6th birthday we didn't get round to having any games as they were all too busy playing.
It takes all that time and money to prepare and it's all over in a day.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Agreed, parties at home are HARD work.

My boys are now 7 and 9 and things are MUCH easier.

Hire an indoor 6 a side football pitch for an hour at the local sports centre for £17.50 [kids rate]. Referee them and 12 of their mates for 45 minutes, Add in a little penalty competition with a PRIZE.

Then upstairs to the cafe, 14 kids meals for £2 each.
Here's your goody bags, see you next year.

 

[Marshy]

yep 20 kids we had at Sams 5th birthday, even at £5 a head and probably another £5 a head on goody bags, its £200 well spent in my book.

 

[Lady Bracknell]

I was lucky with oldest son's birthdays since he was born in June and the weather was usually good and always warm enough to chuck the little over-excited horrors out into the garden. We were also fortunate to have decent sized gardens! However, youngest son was born in December and we always used to hold his parties at Pirate's Deep and the like. This decision coming after the debacle that was his 3rd birthday when we acquired (uninvited) the truly DIABOLICAL older brother of one of the guests whose sole intention was to trash the whole event. And it's amazing just how much anarchy can be created by a five year old on a party-trashing mission...

 

[Starry]

Everyone loved it and said it was a great party and apart from the Po incident my daughter was over the moon and woke up first thing this morning and went straight to her new toy kitchen.

For us....... NEVER AGAIN!!!! It nearly killed us. Anyone who manages to do this every year must be on drugs!

That is why you'll do it again next year

My son is too old for a party now and he wants to do bowling/football/cinema or whatever with a few of his pals but my girls both love a party. The youngest will be two in August so hopefully we'll get good weather and can BBQ/swim outside with minimal effort. Between all the kids here we've gone through every kind of party, last year the boy had a reptile bash where this couple brought a host of snakes, lizards and all sorts along. Ick. They have all reptile themed food and games it was my idea of hell. But he enjoyed it.

 

[El Presidente]

Last year my son was 14, took him and three mates to see Muse at Wembley. Cost me £60 in petrol and toll road fees, £12 in tube fares, about £30 in food and drink, add on a couple of T shirts. Set off at 7am on the Saturday morning, arrived home at 3.30am the following morning.

........and in return you get 365 days a year of lazyness and abuse.

 

[footychick]

Last year my son was 14, took him and three mates to see Muse at Wembley. Cost me £60 in petrol and toll road fees, £12 in tube fares, about £30 in food and drink, add on a couple of T shirts. Set off at 7am on the Saturday morning, arrived home at 3.30am the following morning.

........and in return you get 365 days a year of lazyness and abuse.

 

[SULLY COULDNT SHOOT]

Starry, I'm not going to admit it now but I think you are right...... at the moment I refuse to even look at the pictures and video but probably in 6 months time it will all give way to nostalgia and then this time next year I'll be writing the same bloody email on here. About 11pm last night I said to my wife, hey we've got friends who have a girl one day older... why don't we do the party together. My wife just laugher and said 'They don't do parties.' What does that say about us... loving parents are serial masochists?

Thanks everyone for the advice. Turkey isn't like the UK and we don't have so many choices but the weather is great right now so if we're lucky next year we may be able to move outside.... yet seeing as they are laying natural gas lines everywhere that might be just a pipedream too

 

[Tooting Gull]

Turkey isn't like the UK

You're not wrong there. I'm surprise the clown and Po weren't locked up, the Turkish police tend to act first and ask questions later....

 

[blue'n'white]

All I can say is thank God I haven't got kids !

 

[Robot Chicken]

All I can say is thank God I haven't got kids !

I haven't got kids, thank goodness, but I do have two little nephews and a neice. I can play with them until I get bored then I go out.

Being an uncle is just the BEST.